


War Council take 1

by cockabeetle, Crazy_luna, Lisbon (curseofbunny)



Series: Owari Magica [54]
Category: Owari Magica
Genre: Gen, leader chat, meeting of the mods, war council
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:07:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26770375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cockabeetle/pseuds/cockabeetle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazy_luna/pseuds/Crazy_luna, https://archiveofourown.org/users/curseofbunny/pseuds/Lisbon
Summary: Von asked Ana to help her plan a conversation after Sugarplum, and it finally happened after Azar! This takes place before Ana gets her talk with Chara.
Relationships: Mariana Guerrero-Suarez/Vanessa Verlac, Percival "Percy" Richards&Vondila Morson, Vondila Morson vs. Belladona Cox
Series: Owari Magica [54]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815574





	War Council take 1

**Author's Note:**

> POINTS  
> Total: 5136  
> Beetle/Ana: 1548 words at 774 +750 +50= 1574pts  
> Furu/Vanessa: 1386 words at 693 +650 = 1343pts  
> Bun/Percy: 2202 words at 1101 +1100 = 2201pts

The open high rise was lit with bright sunlight filtering in through the wall-wide windows over the plush silvery carpets, snacks of donuts, biscuits, cucumber and salmon sandwiches and drinks were neatly laid out on the glass coffee table in front of the pale sofa’s as Vanessa hurried around the apartment, tidying the place of any signs of it being lived in. If she could see herself acting like her Nanii now, she would’ve laughed at the times she would tease her in moments like this.  
“Did she say anything about what she wanted to talk about”? Vanessa asked Ana, face flushed with wiping down all surfaces.

Mariana huffed, and shook her head.  
"No, Adelita, she didn't say. I didn't ask, we just... we agreed we needed to talk and I asked you to help me arrange it. We'll find out what it is as soon as they're here! Sit down before you exhaust yourself." She made a grabby gesture at her girlfriend, pouting lightly.  
"It's probably something to do with witches, considering we're the ones who know."

Vondila was nervous as all hell. She needed to have this conversation with them but she was worried. It had been eating away at her since she lost her arm and was faced with mortality for the second time. When she had gotten a text from Ana about it being at Nessa's place that had calmed her a bit. No chance of the others walking in or Belladona. She wanted so badly to do something about her but she needed to talk to everyone about it. But that was for another day today she had this conversation to deal with. She took a deep breath in she rung the bell for Nessa's apartment. She really didn't know how long she stood there but she had stood there for sometime before hitting the button.

Percy had been focusing on his DS more than the actual walk to the girl's apartment. He'd only been there once, but his muscle memory for 'getting out of the house's was pretty keen. Still, he nearly bumped into Von, blinking in surprise. "Oh, hey. You're looking better."

Hearing the doorbell ring, Vanessa bolted for the door. She felt nervous, not just the prospect of the team coming up with some sort of battle plan for Belladonna, or a new bombshell about witches. No, she realised she was nervous because aside from the one time with Percy and Ana moving in, this was probably the first time she was having friends come over. Opening the door, she smiled and greeted the pair;  
"Hey! Glad you to could find this place alright. Come in"!

Mariana grinned.  
"You two made it! Make yourselves comfy!!"

Vondila smiled at Percy. "Yeah. Was even able to fight a witch recently." She commented. Upon the door opening she smiled at Nessa. "Thanks for doing this here. I don't want the others walking in and my place is a mess." Which was true. Salem was in the process of changing all of Vondila's clothes to be a, easier to put on by herself and b, the sleeve not be as long where her nubbin was.

Percy cracked a smile and waved at everyone as he entered. "Good to be here, place looks nice, Ness!" He had a pretty good idea of why they were here. They all knew, and Von needed to figure out what they were doing from here out, where they stood.

Where he stood.

Vanessa beamed at the pair as she ushered them into the large apartment, gesturing for them to make themselves comfortable, she sat down and began serving snacks and drinks.  
"So..." she began unsure of where to begin.

"Soooo..." Mariana hummed, glancing at Vondila and flicking her eyes to Percy before settling more firmly in her spot on the couch.

Vondila walked in and sat down. She had been mentally going over things longer then she told Ana that they needed to talk. "Well there's two major things I want to talk about. So I'm going start with the first cause it's the easiest?" She took in a deep breath. "I want Vanessa to take over as leader when I die. With both you two helping her." A weight was slightly lifted off of her but there was so much more.

Percy had to shut the DS at that, half turning from where he'd walked past the girls to glance at the table of food. Von was doing what, a formal will? A list of options? She was right, though, it was easiest. He would do his best to comfort Salem and hold down the rest of the magi, but he wouldn't panic, even if she became a witch. But Ana wouldn't react well to that train of thought, and Nessa wouldn't either. He puts his game away in his short's pocket, crossing his arms and nodding to Von. He shouldn't talk when it came to their post-magi fates, all he ever did was upset people anyways.

Vanessa's mouth hung open in shock, eyes wide with disbelief.  
"I...I Von, I don't know what to say" she knew it was inevitable, they were all doomed to die young, but to have Von talk about it so frankly, it caught her completely off guard. What did Nessa even know about leading the group? Ana was doing a much better job than she was.

Mariana froze. Her heart climbed up into her throat, as she tried to think.  
It made sense, for Von to be worried about her mortality- she'd lost an arm, and if Ana knew anything about anatomy it seemed obvious losing it above the joint would make getting a prosthetic unwieldy at best. And being at a disadvantage like that in a fight like Prometheus or even Mania could easily end in something worse happening.

But it was completely different to hear it out loud. A part of her wondered why she wasn't the leader- she took the reins more than Vanessa did, afterall- but she didn't like the thought of being the default... captain? Whatever.  
She pressed a hand to her mouth and tried not to panic too hard about those thoughts.

Vondila wasn't surprised by the shock she had been expecting it. "I know it's a lot. But there's also a lot I have teach you guys. All the enchanting that needs to be done for the store, how to seal a grief seed for long term storage and how to manage the records." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I should have taught all this sooner but I didn't think about it. It's important you know everything in case..." Her voice fadded. The one thing that worried her the most. "In case Salem get killed." She didn't want to say that aloud but she had to.

Percy thought back to his recent conversation with the girl. Salem... she was good. He was upset that Bella had made him doubt her, but the whole thing had been resolved and now he was more confident than ever albeit, missing the other girl and her video game skills. He had a feeling he could handle this part better. "I can volunteer with Salem more, learn the ropes. Just have to get my grades back up and I have my free time back." He thought for a second more, rubbing the back of his neck. "And as long as I'm out of the house, I'm not so cagey. Living with Sierra, and Lu being back, it's easier on me. I can handle it."

"Of course" Vanessa noted, she felt short of breath. Wasn't this what she wanted? Confirmation that she was important to the group? So why did thus feel so...final? Like Vondila was expecting something else to happen?

"Would having more nonmagi help around the store be good for Salem, as well, V?" Ana asked, voice faint.  
She didn't know why the thought of Vondila dying scared her less than Salem- perhaps it was simply that Salem wasn't on the front lines- but... she didn't like where this conversation was going. Why couldn't they have gotten a warning?

Maybe losing Salem felt so terrifying because they'd already lost Ms. Sakura...

Vondila nodded. "A nonmagi would be helpful, I think Salem asked Luis if he would be willing to help." She knew this was a lot for them to take in. "I know this is a lot. But at least we're working on a plan, I was thrown into being the leader with no help." Back then before Nessa and Ana she had been the last vet for two months at that point and did a terrible job looking out for the others. "I don't want anyone to go through what did again." She let out softly.

Percy could tell Nessa was unsure, and Ana had some kind of hangup. What would get them both to cheer up? And Von, with that serious look in her eye and a stance like she was about to lead her own death march, it was all too much.  
"So, they won't. We won't let them." He claps a hand on Ana's shoulder, the other going to Nessa's. "And we can figure out how we're going to lead as we get there. All we have to do is keep our heads cool, right?" And, of course, he had to find the balance for himself.

Vanessa smiled at Percy, he was right. This was a bridge they could cross if--when they reached that point. For now it was okay to just have a plan.  
"You're right, the three of us have got this". She squeezed Percy's hand right back and leant towards Ana, she faced Von.  
"You're not going anywhere just yet, though"

Mariana let out a sigh. She squashed her concerns, she can address them later.  
"We'll learn anything either of you want to teach us. Percy and I can ask Lu to help out around the store, and we can ask the new kids to chip in, too, if we frame it right. They should learn how to keep the Sanctuary running, just... just in case something goes wrong..." she trailed off, thinking.  
"We shouldn't put all of our eggs in the same basket..." That's how you lose a flock.

Vondila smiled and nodded. "That good to hear. I don't plan on going anywhere for a long time its just this-" she gestured at her stump. "Made me realize I was putting this conversation off." She also had a second point one that may not go over as well as the current one did. She grabbed some chips and stuffed them in her mouth once swallowed she added. "You know losing an arm you think you'd eat less but really I'm almost always hungry." She grabbed some more chips and started to eat them.

"Take as much as you want, I can make an actual dinner if you want" Vanessa encouraged.

Percy let Nessa go and stepped to the other side of Ana to bump her shoulder with his own. "We can spar again too, if you need to talk about it?" He offered under his breath. He wasn't sure if Ana had talked to Nessa about their last "spar" but he hoped she wouldn't take it badly. He kept moving, grabbing a sandwich and settling into the couch heavily. "And this all looks great! I think we'll be full, just with this!"

"Maybe." Ana mumbled back, and pulled a 3 musketeers bar from her pocket with another mumble.  
"I swear I eat more now that I'm magical than I ever did before, maybe it's just finally catching up with you, V!"

Vondila laughed a little. "I ate full deli roastery chicken yesterday for lunch. Maybe a bit of both." She was stalling from the next topic.

Percy took another bite from the sandwich, shifting so that one leg was under him and his arms bracing on the edge of the couch. He didn't want to take up too much room in this apartment, something still felt daunting about the relationship, and he wasn't sure why. He almost wondered if Von had felt it too. But they were here now, and they had plenty more to talk about. If Von kept looking like she was dodging it, he'd push it forward, but there was no need to rush.

"I can work on that in a bit" she noted, before biting her lip. Ever since Salem had told them about the truth, Nessa had been binge eating on take out right until Ana moved in, although she doubted it had anything to do with being a magi in the physical sense. Giving Ana's hand another squeeze, she prompted.  
"So do we write out your last will and testament now, or is there something else going on"? She prodded. A game plan for Belladonna, the large amount of witches to magi ratio in Seaford, drop kicking every incubator into the ocean...you know, light and breezy stuff, she thought.

"I don't know about writing our wills..." Ana demurred, shoving the chocolate into her mouth. She thought over what the other problem on Von's roster could be...  
Witches? Or Belladonna? Something else?

Vondila swallowed what she was eating and nodded. "Thanks." She bit her tongue a bit and decided to start up the second part. "So soon I would like to have everyone get together and talk about the Belladona threat. The thing is they will have questions and all we know that she wants todo is cause us to despair. I'm unsure how to tell them. Like should we tell them the truth or twist it like the incubators." She chewed on her thumb. "I don't know if she will tell anyone but I worry about if she does she will be doing it for well... the wrong reasons." She didn't know how to do this and needed help from the others, and it might also be a slight test for them.

Percy looked between the other two, then took another bite out of his sandwich. If they left an opening, he'd take it. He wasn't going to lie, he just didn't want to bring it up first. "That's easy. We tell them. Ana, I know what you're going to say, but if we lie to them then we just repeat what happened to us." He leans forward in his seat. "Or risk them drifting and running around with their heads cut off anyway."

Vanessa sucked in a breath. She looked at Ana, knowing how bad she was handling it and to be honest, she wasn't sure if how she was dealing with it was any better either. But the idea of telling them, especially the newbies who were barely a month into this, made her stomach churn. But the idea of Belladonna saying something to them, when she could tell them anything and turn it against them, wasn't an option either.  
"Let's start with Ophelia and Avril, first". She suggested. The two closest things to the "senior" members outside of this room.

Mariana sucked in a breath.  
"I wouldn't tell Avril. Aside from me... their wish would make them the most vulnerable to feeling like they jumped out of a frying pan and into the fire." She shrugged off the other's hands as she stood up.  
"If you haven't told Sierra already, Percy, I'd be surprised. I think we could tell Eva, if we're careful, but I wouldn't know how Chara or Chance would take it, and I don't think Ophelia would handle it well, either, given how freaked out she was just from Bella showing up."

Vondila sighed this was hard. "I think we all didn't handle Belladona showing up well. I did fire a shot at her after all." She scratched her cheek and looked away. "Avril and Ophelia are the ones I'm most worried about. Which is why I don't want Belladona to use the truth as a weapon."

Percy knew it was a bad topic to bring up. "I- can I say something? Bella has a way of getting under your skin, Von. Either we figure out a middle ground or all the kids are going to be caught up in it too. And if we lie to them, they're just going to pick her side. I... I almost did."

Vanessa blinked in surprise. Last time she had spoken to Percy, he seemed against the idea of fighting Belladonna, now that he was advocating making a plan of action she wondered what had happened...  
"Percy's right. If Belladonna get's to the others first, especially the newer ones who don't even really know she's a threat, it'll change everything and we won't be able to help them" Vanessa summarised. She hated this, the idea of pushing these kids of off the ledge and telling them flying was up to them felt needlessly cruel, but it would be kinder than letting Belladonna twist it into something sharper.

"Did you almost pick her because she's some kind of hot nurse?" Ana sniped, unimpressed with his near choice. She shakes her head.  
"I don't like the idea of telling the others about witches. We have no idea how they'll take it, and depending on their current states we could end up hurting them worse. But... if we don't have some kind of plan against Bella, she'll twist things around. She tried to set us against you, V, and she's manipulative enough that it nearly worked." Ana wouldn't admit her letter hadn't actually damaged her opinion of Von; she knew it had freaked Percy out, and Vanessa's had done much the same.

"If you all agree that telling them is better, I won't fight the decision, but I want to make it clear what my stance is. If... if we have to tell the kids, we can split up who tells them, too. Gathering them all and having you or Salem say it is not the right way, it makes it feel like the truth was kept secret for... the only words I can think of are malicious reasons." She pulled a tootsie roll out of her pocket, and popped it into her mouth.

"I don't know who should handle Chara, but I think... Vanessa might be able to talk to Eva about it calmly, and keep her from freaking out. I think Chance needs to be treated delicately, she seems fragile to me. I... might be the best there. Percy... have you told Sierra? If not, she'll accept it from you easier than anyone else." Ana glanced back at Von then.  
"Salem should talk to Ophelia, and... if you really think it would be a good idea to tell Avril, it might be best coming from you. They respect you, I think." She bit her lip.

"Chara is... difficult. I'd offer to talk to her, but I don't know enough about her to tell how she'd take it, she's so desperate to make a connection with us all, and to bring us together more as a group, it... it's hard to tell what's going through her head. And she's so sensitive, I don't know how she could tell her performer comment messed me up; I made sure to shake myself out of it before more than a few seconds had passed..." Ana trailed off, glancing away.

Vondila looked at Percy, that was concerning. She would say she agreed but the Belladona she knew from before wasn't as manipulative. Something happened. How did she survive with only one leg? She chewed her lip.  
Listening to Ana she nodded. Salem had really done things the wrong way. "What would've made it better when you two were told?" She looked between Nessa and Ana.

At Ana's 'hot nurse' comment, he had shrugged and simply said "I am a teenage boy." But Percy took another bite of the sandwich, digesting the conversation. Ana was right, and Nessa had her points. Just because he liked Bella and felt, still felt, that their fates were fair and even that he agreed with her, his technical loyalties were with the group. What he felt and what he did didn't have to match, so long as it protected Ana and stabilized everyone else.

He didn't want to talk over Von, but he felt like he needed to let Ana know she was being heard. Her mounting frustration was more than clear. "Splitting them up works. And, uh, yeah. I told Sierra the truth the other day. I wasn't going to lie to her, and Luis had just come back, and you know what would have happened if I hadn't told him everything that I knew, everything that'd happened. I wasn't willing to risk losing him because of some shut-down order on talking about it." He didn't look at her for the last words, but he hoped she knew that he didn't blame her. He was just frustrated and relieved to not be alone, to have figured out how to not be alone.

"Chara... I sparred with her once, but I don't know if I could get through to her. She fixates on any mistake she makes and takes them personally, and won't listen to my advice. Besides, I don't soften my words." He laughed once. "Sierra, on the other hand, is fine. She took it well. Luis too, I'm not worried about them. They can help with the shop or whatever you need. I'm your general in this stuff, right?" He did glance to Vanessa first, but his gaze rested on Ana. "I can handle the gritty stuff. If you say to talk to Chara, I'll bite that bullet."

"What would've helped, I guess, would've been none of the 'half-truths' and white lies we had before that. Which as far as I know, nobody's given the others," Vanessa noted, it still hurt to think that the Morson's were keeping things secret from them. A feeling Belladonna had used to her advantage in driving a wedge between her and the twins, but in the end, she had to trust her friends.  
"If you want to talk to Chara, that's fine" she nodded at Percy "but if you need help, or support just ask" she added.  
"I can talk to Eva, she seems to have a good head on her shoulders. If we split it like this, it can help with any questions they might have and stop one from working another up in a panic. It's a brilliant idea Sweetie," she gave Ana's hand a reassuring squeeze and a proud smile.

Ana had rolled her eyes at Percy, before giving Vanessa a glance. She remembered Nessa's remark along the same lines, and had turned to give Von a raised eyebrow at the question. Was Ana's suggestion not an obvious answer to that question? Was she so forgettable that they forgot she said anything as soon as she was done?  
"Thanks. I think... maybe I'll feel Chara out and we can tackle her again later, once we have an idea of what her actual thoughts are. What her wish was." She gives Vondila another look.  
"What do you think? Can you and Salem handle Conejita and Avi? Or do you have another plan?"

So Sierra and Luis knew the truth. That was good two less people to lie to. "The half truths were because Salem and I beleved it was for the best. The former vets and incubators had told us thats how it needed to be done." She rubbed the back of her neck. "And the witch that caused you to make your wish Nessa had formed from May Sage finding out the truth." She explained. "Thats why I told the same half truths as Eb and Flow. I didn't want to lose you." She said softly. She didn't want to lose any of them really but at the same time Belladona was threatening all of them. "I will tell them the truth. The whole truth. That most witches are despaired magi, that the incubators wont tell the truth unless you ask the most direct question or you know already, that were all part of some system to make energy, that our soul gems are our souls, all of it I will tell them all of it." She rambled on, this was hard. She had to be open so much more then normal. She had been getting better with it but now she just needed to rip that bandaid off and tell the truth. "Any questions you guys don't know the answers to, that anyone has I will answer as best as I can no lies or half truths and if I don't know the answer I will say so not lying."

Percy's eyes widened, pulling his soul gem out. He hadn't planned on trying to take a confrontational stance with any of this, but he wanted to make sure he'd heard that right. "Honesty and telling the kids thing is fine- I don't think Ophelia is one of the kids, she's on my level in fighting and amount of time she's been around. Maybe even more, since I've been dodgy. But our soul gems are our souls?" Saying it out loud sounded stupid. This was the kind of video game twist that he bemoaned. Of course the character should have realized it, of course the half-cocked "symbolism" was wasted on the two-bit characters. A bit of bile rose in his throat. He'd been fine with everything until now, but having a physical form of something he'd never conceptualized, having an impersonal little ring to mark his entire life, his thoughts, his heart? He wanted to throw a punch at something. Not Eb, the incubator hadn't lied to him, but maybe a mirror. Something where it felt like he was getting to fight himself, but when the glass shattered, he could wake up with blood on his fists and a realization that maybe there was part of this that he wasn't fine with.  
He wanted desperately for his gut feelings to be wrong. He wanted to look Von in the face and see something other than the same panic and fear of losing them.  
He didn't care about dying, but he cared about this. Was he a hypocrite?

Vanessa bolted up from her seat, staring down at Vondila with wide eyes, the colour from her face had drained.  
"What did you just say??"

Mariana huffed, not even perturbed by that idea. What was one more impossibilty heaped onto these? Percy's comment about Ophelia felt... well, okay, it made sense, but... Ana would admit her big sister instincts were a little too strong around Ophelia to let her be seen as an adult. She felt too much like a scared little kid, especially since Christmas and Prometheus, for Ana to want to trust her to hold strong, too...  
Ana shook her head.

"We can figure out what the likely questions are going to be, or simply promise to recommend they talk to you or Salem for questions Ness, Perce and I don't know, if it'd be better to talk to them before Bella has a chance to get to them."

Vondila looked at both Vanessa and Percy a little confused. They should know right? Salem said... "Salem didn't tell you?!" She stood up to look Vanessa a little better in the eyes. "She said that she told you everything." She took a deep breath one more thing to tell. "The incubators take our souls out of our bodies and put them in-" She pulled out her soul gem. "-and put them in these. They say its so we can fight cause if our souls aren't in our bodies then we can take more damage." She held up her slightly cloudy gem. She needed to clean it better. "If I knew Salem didn't tell you I would have. Trust me on this I didn't know you didn't know." She rubbed her head. "I'm going to kill Salem when I get home." She was so mad at her twin right now. How could she forget this? "It's why our state of mind also effects our gems not just magic." She looked Vanessa in the eyes hoping for some understanding or that the other knew she was telling the truth. She didn't mean to keep this a secret, it just happened.

Percy glanced between the girls. He was upset, but mostly with himself for not knowing. Why was this all so frustrating? He finished the sandwich and slid the ring back onto his finger. After another second of contemplation, he poured himself a glass of tea. "I'm upset, but as long as the lies end, I can handle whatever else there is. I'm not saying anyone needs to tell me everything, I'm not a creep, but feeling left out is the worst thing for this issue. Yeah?"

"You mean to tell me she just forgot?" Vanessa asked, her tone clipped and harsh, she didn't even realise her hands were shaking. Belladonna was right, they were hiding something from them and she could've used that in more devastating ways than just cryptic messages. Vanessa's stomach churned with the implications, both over the revelation of her... 'soul' as well as what Belladonna could've done with that information.  
"That's kind of a big deal to just slip someone's mind, Von."

"Vanessa." Mariana cupped her girlfriend's face to get her to meet her eyes.  
"Salem was more focused on making sure you and I didn't hate Vondila. It hurts, yes, that we were kept in the dark about our gems, but... I can't blame Salem for being more concerned with the biggest risk. It's better to know now than to have found out because someone stole our gem or something, right? Calm down." She pecked her cheek.  
She turned to Percy and Von.  
"Is that everything we've been hiding? Or can I ask a question about your choices, Von?"

Vondila flinched away from Vanessa. "I'm sorry. I really am. I wasn't there I would have said something." Her hand was shaking. Hand. She only had one hand. Oh god. Her mind was racing to much. She saw Ana try and calm down Nessa. She would never meant to hurt them. She cared to much, and why did it hurt her to see Ana kiss the other. Her mind was a mess. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. She was pulled out by her name she looked at Ana and nodded. Her voice felt to far away right now.

Percy didn't look at the kiss. He didn't. He was fine with it, him and Ana were friends, but his gut still twisted when he thought about everything. He figured things were tense enough, and stood so he could take Von's free wrist and guide her to the couch that he'd effectively claimed, and moved to sit down on the floor by her feet. After a thought, he passed her a snack as well, retrieving his own tea to take a sip. "Here, eat something. We all need to calm down, then we can work on your question. Right, Ana?" He met her eyes, hoping she'd understand. He was trying to keep this steady, even despite his own head being about to fall off.

Vanessa hadn't calmed down, per se, but she let Ana's touch ground her to the situation at hand. She could think about this later. Right now protecting the kids from Belladonna came first. She nodded and collapsed back into her chair quietly.

Mariana went to the food and picked up the first sandwich she touched.  
"Ness, eat something." She took a breath, and pulled a jolly rancher from her pocket. Cherry. Great.  
"Let me know when you've all calmed down, okay? I can wait. This is... a lot to take in."

Vondila let Percy lead her to the couch and took the food that he offered her and started eating. She needed to stop her racing mind, she had more important things than panic. Once she had finished eating she was able to speak up. "Okay what's the question Ana?" Her voice was a little shaky but she needed to focus on anything right now then herself. She turned her gem back into the scrunchie and tried to put it back at the end of her braid. Her hand shaking a little but it was a lot harder with only one hand. She looked at Percy. "Do you think you could help?"

Percy sat up so he could help her tie it off, even straightening the braid a bit. He couldn't help his little smile, glancing up at her as he finished. "Yeah, sorry." He sat back onto the floor when he was done, kicking his shoes off underneath the table and tucking his feet underneath himself. Hopefully this would all be fine... he looked back over to Ana, tea in hand, sipping it.

Vanessa didn't reply to Ana outside of a heavy sigh, she was listening but...just processing too. Her eyes kept flicking between the others, why was this so hard to deal with? She already knew she was a monster in the making, but this? Why was this so hard?

Mariana took a breath, and squeezed Nessa's fingers gently.  
"Why, exactly, was Ness picked as leader? I don't understand the thought process. I know, at the moment, I tend to default to you both when I can, but she doesn't do any better leading than I or Percy do, and it seemed kind of out of nowhere, unless she was picked because she's the oldest..."

Vondila blinked at that, she had a point. Why had she picked Nessa? "A part of it is your wish Nessa. I'm hoping that will give you the drive to protect magi. Since day one you were looking out for everyone." She sighed. "And no offense but Vanessa has been the most reliable outside of battles." She cared for all three but had this gut feeling that Vanessa would make a good leader. "Now I want to be clear if you guys want to co-lead or Nessa you really feel like I made the wrong choice its okay. I won't be mad." That was true. She cared so much her them it hurt.

All of his attempts at relaxing were gone. Percy tensed, looking to Ana. Von... it almost sounded like an excuse, and he wasn't sure why. Ana was the one who actually stepped up and told everyone else what to do. Sure, she was a loose canon emotionally, but she'd never let that affect her performance as a magi. So why pick Nessa? Why not say that they could both lead from the start? He waited, not wanting to add more logs to the fire.

Vanessa finally looked up at the group, squaring her shoulders.  
"When the time comes that you..." she hesitated "Cant lead us anymore, I'll do my best to step up. I may be biased here, but I think Ana's done an amazing job in that department already considering the fight with that Prometheus Witch and all." She wanted this, the validation that she was needed in the group, but even she could see that her recent performances in battle was making her more akin to a liability than a leader. If this is the way things are going she'll stick to being second banana and have Ana be the leader. Vanessa got up and headed for the kitchen to make more tea and to keep herself busy.

Mariana's eyes had narrowed, and she tilted her head slightly.  
"So... in battle, she's less reliable than Percy and I, but because she talks to you and Salem more often than I do, she's more reliable as a leader than I am? Even if, outside of battle, I've talked to everyone in the group at least once and try to keep everyone focused on the goal of the day, and have done my best to keep everything going, keep everyone's spirits up? Is it just because I wasn't willing to talk about my own feelings before? What about my conduct is unreliable?" She shook her head.  
"I understand wanting someone stable to be the leader, but say it outright if that's what you're going for, Von. Don't try to sugar coat it." She huffed.  
"If there's something you want to say, come out and say it, Von, you don't have to baby anyone." She turns to Nessa, then.  
"If you take up your role as Leader, you know you're going to have to actually start watching your own health too, right? Ignoring your own injuries to try and focus on everyone else is just going to make you vulnerable to getting killed in battle, you know."

It stung Vondila with Ana's anger. She was right she was sugar coating things still wasn't she. That didn't seem right. Why had she picked Nessa in the first place? Nassa was a healer. Nessa was older. Ana tried hard to keep everyone focused. Ana made contact with everyone. Nessa had problems in battle. Ana didn't take care of herself emotionally. She had been stuck between the two for a year now. She had picked Nessa cause she felt like there needed to be one leader. Not two. "Ana-" she looked at the girl. "-I chose Nessa over you because I felt there needed to be one leader. Before leading was split between the vets and that always caused problems. You both would make fine leaders but from experience having one person named leader helps. When I became a vet and became on of the leaders I caused shit with the other vets to." She rubbed her good eye trying to clear her head. "Maybe Im still not good at this whole leader thing." She muttered. If Ana questioning her decision made her rethink everything was she really meant to be a leader. She only had that title due to experience and age. "Maybe I shouldn't be the leader anymore." She muttered aloud not realizing she had said it.

"I know it's not my place to say who should lead and who shouldn't, and that I'm not... I don't know everyone's dynamic as well as any of you do. Hell, I'm not even completely sure if I've met every magi in the area." Percy spoke up, tracing the rim of his cup. "But... The question of who leads and who has a solo title, of who we look to, it doesn't feel like it's this simple. Everyone has things they could bring to the table, and having a monarch doesn't mean we're a monarchy. So, why not just... Von, rely on Nessa and Ana. Teach us what we have to know. When the time comes, don't 'Uncle Ben' us. We're not spiderman, and the hole you're going to leave is huge. You're important." The speech felt haphazard and pulled from his ass, but he looked to Ana. "And you're good with people. You care." Finally, to Nessa. "And you can keep a cool head and want to save everyone. You're all important to this, and we need everything. If the kids are going to actually trust anything you have to say, it's not going to be from the monarch, it's going to be from a friend, or an older sister. So, picking just one of them sucks. But so does trying to remind us of the last will and testaments before you've even hit the last mile of the bucket. Okay?"

Vanessa glanced up from the kitchen at Percy's words, he certainly had a way with them, of being a peace keeper and meditator. She gave him a weak smile before returning to her brewing.

Mariana hummed, calmed down a little at hearing the why. Knowing that they were all floundering was a little better than thinking she was coming up lacking in some way.  
"We can be a team of leaders, we can have an internal hierarchy and still act as a unit, too. Having one named leader did feel... off. I never questioned you being the leader because you were here longest and knew the most, V, but... it's important to remember that you don't have to be alone, and we aren't alone. We can rely on each other and the rest of the group- we can rely on them to come to us for help and to help us, to be the family we might need."

Vondila listened to them. Percy and Ana were right just one leader wasn't entirely needed, they could work together. "Things really aren't like they used to be." She spoke up. "I never thought to look all of this with a different lens. I guess somewhere deep inside I still felt alone some how." She stated looking at all of them. "I want to work together, I really do." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I just felt like the only way to be a leader was to be on your own. Hell it took me a year to even accept that you guys really saw me as a leader." She was rambling but it felt like it needed to be out there. "And maybe my idea of a leader is wrong. God I don't think I ever had someone to look up to in that regard." She scrunched her face a bit. "Hey Belladona is trying to push us apart and hurt us when she's doing the opposite. If today is anything to go by." She had a weak smile on.

Percy leaned forwards to grab a few donuts and some fruit on a napkin, setting them on the couch on Von's good side. "See? Communication. We've got this. We're not going to fall apart. Ana, do you want to sit down, eat some more?" He snagged a second sandwich for himself. It would be a waste to ignore the food, and it was all he could do to lessen the tension. Maybe... maybe he was helping. Maybe he wasn't just good for causing problems.

Vanessa carried the newly brewed cups of fruity tea's back to the couches. There was a lot to digest here, but that would be for another time. Plans had been made for the future, things to look and work to, wasn't that the exact same thing she was doing to keep Ana going? She sat down next to her girlfriend and leaned against her, she still hadn't spoken much, or eaten either. She didn't feel like either.

Ana hummed, and nuged Nessa's shoulder lightly before leaning forward to snag a piece of cucumber from Percy's sandwich and popping it into her mouth.  
"I'm not actually hungry, hermano. Maybe it's just nerves, though." She hummed.  
"Bella was trying to push a wedge between us, but... she miscalculated what would work for some of us. Not everyone cares about what they look like they care about."

Vondila grabbed some fruit and started eating. "She figured wrong. At least for us, and once we get the others up to date we can all work together to deal with her." She commented. This gave her hope on things.

'Deal with' was a strong wording. He didn't think he'd go that far about Bella, but he was also much more attached than the others. He needed to focus, though. Luis was back. He had Sierra and Ana too. Things were better now. He took a bite, just letting things try to settle again.

"So, we deal with telling the other's the whole truth," Vanessa shot Vondila a pointed glance. "Then, when we're all on the same page we can make a plan of attack for Belladonna, sound good?" She looked around the room, whatever will be, will be and the time to bite the bullet was quickly approaching.

Mariana nodded.  
"Everything we know, and if they have questions we don't know the answer to, we admit it. We tell them that we don't know, and we offer to help them find that answer."

"So each of us will take someone then and Salem, and I'll make sure Salem says about soul gems." Vondila added. "Salem and I will talk to Avril and Ophelia. Outside of this room they've been around the longest and have been told the half-truths so let us set that right." They were right, no more half truths, they needed to know everything.

Percy looked between them. "I already talked to Sierra, so I'll talk to Chara. We just need to keep our heads on straight and communicate, and if we start feeling lost, we reach out. We're not alone, okay?" He couldn't help looking at them all, hoping they'd remember.

"So, this the part where we all put our hands in together and say 'Go team, go!' or what?" Vanessa smirked, finally picking at a lemon meringue doughnut. Despite the shock of what Vondila said, this was nice, she should invite people over more.

Mariana giggled.  
"Right. Percititititito, can you wait a couple days to talk to Chara? I want to talk to her before you tell her, just to get an idea of what her feelings are. And ask her about Sugarplum. at least a little." Ana offered her hand to him.  
"Go team?"

Vondila smiled things were coming together. "And if we're worried about anyone we tell each other so we can give them help." She added and then put her hand out as well. She wasn't alone, she didn't need to lead alone. Things would work out.

Percy added his hand to the pile. "Of course! We've got this. We didn't get this far for nothing."

Rolling her eyes at everyone taking her suggestion at heart and placed her hand in the group.  
"Go team, go" She smirked.

Ana leaned over to hug Von and Percy close.  
"Thank you both, come by whenever."


End file.
